Hockey as it started, and one could argue, hockey as it was intended.
Air Force and Colorado College took to the great outdoors at Falcon Stadium on a chilly Monday night that ended with snow beginning to fall and produced a closely contended game and an array of memories.
The Tigers (10-16-2) took a 4-2 decision with sophomore co-captain Grant Cruikshank finishing his first NCAA hat trick with an empty-net goal with 37 seconds to play. The Falcons (8-17-5) played the rematch of the home-and-home series much tighter than Friday’s 6-2 loss, but the real takeaway was the experience.
“It was cool to be a part of,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “I thought it was a really good game. CC is really well coached. They have some good players, but they are really well coached. They don’t do much out there to beat themselves.
“They took advantage of our mistakes all weekend, which good teams do. They don’t give you a lot. … We gave them a good battle tonight. I was hoping we’d be able to get a bounce at the end and be able to tie it up at the end.”
The big picture
The outcome almost seemed secondary after the game.
“It was an outstanding event Air Force put on,” Tigers coach Mike Haviland said. “We can’t thank Frank and the Air Force athletic department for including us. To get the win was special.
“I’ve been fortunate to be involved in three of these (as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks and as CC’s coach at the Battle on Blake in Denver in 2016). It just doesn’t happen and may not happen (again) if they play 10, 15 years after. I was certainly excited. It brings you back to being a kid. It was cold, it had snow flurries, it had everything. This is something that will last a lifetime.”
Cruikshank concurred: “The experience of playing outdoors, having a lot of family here, is the biggest memory. Winning was the icing on the cake.”
The scope of the event stuck with his counterpart, Falcons captain Matt Pulver, as well: “I’ve been a part of a couple of NCAA regional teams and this is definitely up there for the top in my college hockey experience. I’m so thankful the NHL let us play out here, and the atmosphere was unbelievable. It’s a memory I’ll never forget.”
Luke Manning is stopped by Colorado College’s Matt Vernon. Photo courtesy of Trevor Cokley and Air Force Athletics
Baby steps
Air Force played substantially better than it had on Friday night, when a 1-0 deficit became 4-0 in what Serratore called the “worst two and a half minutes in Air Force hockey history.”
“(The improvement) started from the defensive side, getting pucks out, trying not to make mistakes in our own end,” said defenseman Brandon Koch, who netted the Falcons’ first goal. “The best defense is offense, and we tried to fire a lot more pucks.
“At times it seemed like (CC goalie Matt) Vernon was fighting it a little bit. We were just throwing shots hoping they would sit at his feet and be able to knock some home.”
The Falcons twice cut two-goal deficits to one, but they could not get over the hump, a trend they need to correct pronto, Pulver said.
“It’s been a theme all year,” the senior said. “I think our response has been good all year. When we get punched in the gut we tend to respond.
“Going forward we’ve got to be the team (to deliver) the first punch in the gut. Just the response, it’s desperation at that point. I thought we were able to play pretty good at the end of the second, and in the third I thought we were really good.”
Struggles to start
Cruikshank’s career night began with slightly less than 7 minutes left in the first period. His roommate, defenseman Bryan Yoon, threaded a beautiful pass through the slot to the backdoor of Alex Schilling (26 saves) on a power play. The Falcons netminder had no chance to stop it.
With eight minutes to go in the second period, Cruikshank found some open real estate in the slot, but Schilling made a nice left pad save. However, the speedy Tiger reached the rebound on the right doorstep first and tucked it around Schilling’s skate for a 2-0 lead.
Koch’s goal with 34 seconds to play in the period gave the Falcons a lift they carried into the third period, when they outshot their guests 14-6 after CC had built a 24-15 edge in the first two period.
Brandon Koch’s goal late in the second period got Air Force back into the game. Photo courtesy of Paat Kelly / Pengo Sports and Air Force Athletics
Luke Manning took a pass from Zach Mirageas, headed down the wall and controlled the puck low before getting a shot off to Vernon’s left. The freshman made the initial stop, but Koch had moved in from the left point.
“(Manning is) an animal down low,” Koch said. “I tried to find a seam, hoping he was going to give me a pass. Once I saw him go to the net, I thought I should keep going to the net.
“(The puck) floated right out on top of the crease, I tried to whack at it and it happened to go right over the goalie’s shoulder.”
The Tigers rebuilt their two-goal edge 3:21 into the third when freshman Josiah Slavin backed off a Falcons defender then dropped a pass to Chris Wilkie in the right circle. The senior wasted no team capitalizing on the then-open shooting lane for his 20th goal.
However, the Falcons came right back. Blake Bride corralled the puck with a step at the Falcons’ line, and he and Pulver were off to the races on a 2-on-1. Vernon stopped Bride’s shot, but the rebound bounced into the high slot where a trailing Luke Rowe found it and hammered it in to make it 3-2 just 1:38 later.
The Falcons a handful of chances late in the third but could not bury them.
“Matt made a good point: We chased the scoreboard the entire weekend,” Serratore said. “If you’re continually chasing the scoreboard and against a good team, there’s not going to be many happy endings in that story.”
Finishing move
Despite the outcome, there was a storybook finish to the Faceoff at Falcon Stadium.
After the traditional postgame handshake, the teams remained on the ice to salute the crowd and take a photo together.
“I’m happy for Air Force, I’m happy for Colorado College and I’m happy for Colorado Springs,” Serratore said. “I think this was a really cool event.”
And it was one that cemented the importance of these games to the participants.
“We have a rivalry now,” the coach added. It wasn’t a rivalry for many years. It’s not a rivalry when the same team wins all the time. Over the last 8, 9 years the same team hasn’t won every year. It was cool the other day when CC won on Friday and their boys were legitimately excited when they got that Pikes Peak Trophy back. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
“When you see what happened on the ice with the two teams going to center ice and taking a picture together and saluting the crowd together, I think that tells you it’s pretty classy. I hope the fans on both sides appreciate that. Those guys go out and battle and beat each others’ brains out for 60 minutes and went to center ice and saluted the fans together, took a picture together. I think that’s pretty cool. Sometime down the road all those boys are going to appreciate having that photo.”
In the meantime, the 7,178 spectators were treated to an unforgettable night of hockey.
Notes
Freshmen accounted for both goals and both primary assists for Air Force. … Vernon stopped 27 shots and Yoon had assists on each of Cruikshank’s two goals. … More than 80 Air Force hockey alumni were in attendance Monday.
©First Line Editorial 2020
